:!:PLEASE! URGENT! FISH HELP NEEDED!:!:

Emphasy

Okay, I am buying three Mollies today. A female and male Dalmation, and a female Black. I am also buying a suckerfish of some sort. I am looking to breed. Right now I have a tank with rocks and a filter/pump. If I buy some plastic plants and put them in the corner will the fry be safe? What would happen if I just let a plastic plant float on the surface? Would the fry be safe there? As for feeding, How often do I feed the adults, and how often do I feed the fry? (they'll be in the same tank, so how do I go about that?) and If I rub tropical fish flakes between my fingers until it's fine, will that be okay for the fry? Also, how much do I feed the adults/fry? I'm sorry for all the questions. I just need to know before we go to the store tonight. and I can't but special food for the fry, or a breeding tank, so plants/rocks are going to be the only hiding place right now.

Please help,
Emphasy

Kim

Hmm...plastic plants may not be the way to go for fry. Only because they are seldom dense enough to prevent the parents from getting to the fry, and most of them will be eaten. If a separate tank is not an option, I would get some java moss. I have not kept any yet (but will be soon :D ) but it is supposed to be easy to take care of and does not require any special lighting (provided there is a light on the aquarium) or fertalizer. A floating plant may be good too such as water lettuce (which requires more light) or duckweed (don't get this if you mind having to pull loads of the stuff out of your tank though, it grows fast). Adult fish are usually fed 2 times a day, no more than they can eat in a couple minutes. But fry are often fed 6+- times. So if you plan to keep the two together I would feed small amounts 3 times a day to avoid over polluting your water. You can crush up regular tropical fish flake food in a bag and then feed to the fry, if you can put it near where your filter releases water (if you have a hang on back filter) the current should push it down to the bottom where the fry are. As for the adults, crush up the flakes a little between your fingers (they are always too big) and let those float on the surface. This setup is doable, but just realize that many of your fry will be eaten by the adults. If you are really looking to breed, a separate breeding tank would be ideal (maybe you could get this later on??). Have you thought about what you are going to do with the fry? Even without the breeding tank, they will still eventually overrun your tank unless it is really big. Good luck, molly fry are so cute !

Kim

Sorry, forgot to ask. You did cycle your tank, right?

Emphasy

I have everything ready, and i'm getting the fish tonight. I have a vase my two goldfish used to live in, but they died. If my fish do have fry, will I be able to scoop them out with the fish net I have? Or will the holes be too big? My water is cycled. I just can't get a breeding net or anything until they have the fry because I don't want my mom to know until it's too late! Hopefully for my birthday I'll get a 10 gallon, so I can keep the tank I have now for growing fry. That way they hopefully won't be eaten. I'm a little afraid the fry will get sucked into the filter though. Is that a rational fear?

Emphasy

What about a Java fern? With the java moss how would I go about keeping it to about the size of a fist? does it just peel apart?

Little-Fizz

How big is your tank? Do you have a heater? Lights? If you have lights then I would go with real plants, but I would get a net to hang over the side of your tank to keep the fry in, theres no guarantee the fry will survive in a tank without many hiding spots and adult fish present. and yes, it is a rational fear to think they will be sucked up by the filter, cut the end off nylons (panty hose whatever you call them) and tie it around the intake of the filter so the holes are not big enough to suck the fry up.

Emphasy

I'm going to get some Java moss, but would a java fern be okay? What about a rock to swim through? My tank is 5, 5 1/2 gallons. I don't have a heater, but my water is the suggested temperature. I have lights, and I'll definately put a nylon sock over the filter.

Little-Fizz

Woah, hold up a second here. Theres no way your getting 3 mollies in a 5.5 gallon tank, AND trying to raise their fry, try again later with something more like a 20 gallon tank. The most your getting in that 5 gallon is like... A betta, maybe a few guppies too.


The sucker fish (I'm assuming that means a pleco) Is already to much for that 5.5 gallon tank to handle. Unless you wanted something like an otto.

Emphasy

I put the pantyhose on and black clouds started coming out of the filter and into the water. I'm going to take it off. What do I do now?

Emphasy

It sounds small, but the people at petsmart (5 of them) told us three max. I have a seperate thing for the fry. The tank is also quite large for a 5 gallon. They think it might even be bigger. and I'm getting a type of catfish that stays small.